Joshua Dowling

French car maker Renault is offering a seven-year warranty for the first time - but only for this month, and only on the Koleos SUV. For now.

Yet another manufacturer is extending its warranty. French brand Renault is offering seven-year coverage across its Koleos SUV range until the end of March.

Renault has also managed to hold its sharp $29,990 drive-away starting price for base Koleos, while the range-topper has been cut by $3000 to $42,990 drive-away, and also includes the seven-year warranty deal.

Contrary to perception, extended warranties cost car companies serious money because they need to set aside more of their profit margin to cover the longer period of ownership.

So it’s rare to see an extended warranty offer and a sharp price at the same time.

Mitsubishi is offering seven-year warranty coverage on its new Triton ute range, however prices have risen by between $4500 and $6500, in part to help offset the cost.

All Top 10 brands except Nissan now offer five year coverage or more, but an increasing number of manufacturers are dabbling with seven-year warranties to stand out from their rivals.

Hyundai Australia executives have previously said they're considering increasing warranty coverage from five years because it has become the norm in the past 18 months, following the ACCC’s scrutiny of the car industry.

Hyundai was the first brand in Australia to offer five-year warranty across the range, introducing the factory-backed extended coverage in 1999.

Mitsubishi was the second brand with permanent factory-backed five-year coverage, from December 2004.

Hyundai’s sister brand Kia aced the lot, though, when it introduced a permanent factory-backed seven-year warranty across its entire range from October 2014.

Kia remains the only brand inside the Top 10 with permanent seven-year warranty coverage, however several rivals including Mitsubishi, Holden and now Renault have periodically offered seven-year peace-of-mind during monthly sales promotions.